A backbone network or network backbone is a part of computer network

Computer network

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....

 infrastructure that interconnects various pieces of network, providing a path for the exchange of information between different LAN

Län

Län and lääni refer to the administrative divisions used in Sweden and previously in Finland. The provinces of Finland were abolished on January 1, 2010....

s or subnetwork

Subnetwork

A subnetwork, or subnet, is a logically visible subdivision of an IP network. The practice of dividing a network into subnetworks is called subnetting....

s. A backbone can tie together diverse networks in the same building, in different buildings in a campus environment, or over wide areas. Normally, the backbone's capacity is greater than the networks connected to it.

A large corporation that has many locations may have a backbone network that ties all of the locations together, for example, if a server cluster needs to be accessed by different departments of a company that are located at different geographical locations. The pieces of the network connections (for example: ethernet, wireless) that bring these departments together is often mentioned as network backbone. Network congestion

Network congestion

In data networking and queueing theory, network congestion occurs when a link or node is carrying so much data that its quality of service deteriorates. Typical effects include queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of new connections...

 is often taken into consideration while designing backbones.

Backbone networks should not be confused with the Internet backbone

Internet backbone

The Internet backbone refers to the principal data routes between large, strategically interconnected networks and core routers in the Internet...

.

See also

• Backhaul
  Backhaul (telecommunications)
  In a hierarchical telecommunications network the backhaul portion of the network comprises the intermediate links between the core network, or backbone, of the network and the small subnetworks at the "edge" of the entire hierarchical network...
  
  
• Collapsed backbone
  Collapsed Backbone
  A collapsed backbone is a type of backbone network architecture.The traditional backbone network goes over the globe to provide interconnectivity to the remote hubs. In most cases, the backbones are the links while the switching or routing functions are done by the equipments at each hub...
  
  
• Core network
  Core network
  A core network, or network core, is the central part of a telecommunication network that provides various services to customers who are connected by the access network. One of the main functions is to route telephone calls across the PSTN....
  
  
• Distributed backbone
  Distributed backbone
  A distributed backbone is a backbone network that consists of a number of connectivity devices connected to a series of central connectivity devices, such as hubs, switches, or routers, in a hierarchy...
  
  
• Parallel backbone
  Parallel backbone
  There are a few different types of backbones that are used for an enterprise-wide network. When organizations are looking for a very strong and trustworthy backbone they should chose a parallel backbone. This backbone is a variation of a collapsed backbone in that it uses a central node...
  
  
• Serial backbone
  Serial backbone
  A serial backbone is the simplest kind of backbone network. Serial backbones consist of two or more internet working devices connected to each other by a single cable in a daisy-chain fashion. A daisy chain is a group of connectivity devices linked together in a serial fashion. Hubs are often...